Le Dernier Combat (1983)

Directed by Luc Besson

Starring Pierre Jolivet, Jean Bouise, Fritz Wepper, Jean Reno

Besson’s first feature length film, the Last Combat has the unique disitinction of being the only silent, black and white, post-apocolyptic, action/comedy. Already, Besson’s style and genious presents itself in an engaging story that is poignant, thrilling, and funny.

Jolivet plays the unnamed hero, who uses his wits to first defeat a group of thugs and attain a battery for his homemade plane, then again to best a brute played by Jean Reno and save a captive woman. Despite there being no dialogue, Besson manages to establish notable characters and genuine relationships such as the partnership between the hero and the doctor who is protecting a hospital and the woman in it.

Also to note are the brilliantly captured slapsticky moments that come to identify Besson’s directing style such as the hero experiencing alcohol for the frist time and Reno’s character’s failed attempts to gain access to the hospital.